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Week 5: Old Owl Well
Week 5: Old Owl Well Last Seed: 4/28-4/30 AS 926-928 When we left off... With Gundren's fate still uncertain, the group set out for Old Owl Well -- to date, it was your best lead on the mysterious Cragmaw Castle. Although that's mostly because you kept killing, losing, or otherwise destroying the bugbears and goblins who could potentially have helped you. The Triboar Trail west of Phandalin splintered into half a dozen mining trails, but you pushed southward at the forks and finally reached a wide river. At Quintus' suggestion, Selgaard and Ulfar back-tracked a bit into a small copse of trees to make camp for the night. A pack of wolves snuck up on you in the dark, but the poor beasts were swiftly dispatched. This led to an interesting question about whether or not you could eat a wolf, and while most everyone agreed that you *could*... everyone stopped to ask if they *should.* Disclaimer: no wolf meat was eaten. Everyone spent the morning daisy-chaining ropes together after Selgaard tested the depth of the river and found that it was deeper than he is tall. Which is, like, really really tall. He is a tall drink of Nord. That didn't bode well for the shorter dwarves (who historically do poorly on Frostholm water-hazards), but a bit of engineering successfully got the chicken, fox, and grain CORRECTION: party of adventurers across the river. On the other side of the river, a hill formed at the edge of the forest. On top of the hill stood the ruined stump of a watchtower and crumbling husk of a curtain wall. A brightly colored tent stood in the courtyard, and the stink of death hung heavy in the air. Ulfar scouted ahead, and found a hoard of at least a dozen zombies clustered inside the broken tower. Dargrim doubled-down and scouted the tent, where he spied a Red Wizard of Thay '''studying a text. Wasting no time, Dargrim called Selgaard over and the pair ambushed the Wizard. A few moments later, the battlefield shifted dramatically: the wizard was bleeding out on the ground, but the zombie hoard was closing. Clyde, Dargrim, and Ulfar had some luck in felling the undying monsters, while Sir Quintus and Selgaard were consistently frustrated as the zombies simply refused to die. Dargrim's ability to turn undead and generate radiant energy briefly turned the tides of battle in your favor, but the rest of the group immediately re-engaged most of the fleeing zombies, drawing agro again. In a surprise return from the brink, the Red Wizard managed to mist-step away, but Ulfar caught him by surprise. On the bright side, all that blood matched his robes perfectly. When the zombies finally stopped twitching and had their heads caved in, everyone contributed to a search of the area. Although you did not discover any indication that the Old Owl Well had a connection to Gundren Rockseeker, Wave Echo Cave, or the Black Spider, you did learn a few things: the Wizard, whose notes bear the name '''H. Kost, indicated that he wanted to ask a question of Agatha the Banshee... but did not indicate what he wanted to ask specifically. His notes also contained significant references to Ancient Netheril and the name Acererak,with no confirmation of what that might mean. After burning the dead, you didn't have time to cross the river again before sundown, so you made camp in the ruins. Sir Quintus' heard a group of hobgoblins sneaking in the dark just before they unleashed a volley of arrows at him, and he raised the alarm. Unfortunately, a second group of Hobgoblins used the ensuing chaos to pin you down from the other side. Despite sustaining heavy damage, everyone pulled through and one hobgoblin was successfully captured. His interrogation was slightly less successful, but the hobbo did give up the location of Cragmaw Castle (though nothing about its defenses) in exchange for his freedom. Around Town The potatoes you got from the Stonehill Inn have officially run out.